NBA Live 08 (Xbox 360)

NBA Live 08 is clearly a step up from last year's disaster, but it still lags behind the competition.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

Speaking of point guards, the developers must absolutely love every guard in the league, because they are virtually unstoppable in this game. Not only that, but they refuse to run the offense. It's not uncommon to see a point guard, even an average player, hold onto the ball for nearly all of the shot clock, dribble around the top of the key, penetrate, and shoot a wild floater that drops in for two. You can double-team them, try to foul them, whatever -- it doesn't matter. The AI sees the point guard as the primary means of scoring, which has a huge effect on playing against the AI. When Tim Duncan gets two shots in a game, you know you have a serious problem.

Running your own offense isn't much better, though, thanks to the fact that EA only included four plays. Four. While the competition has numerous plays off numerous base sets, NBA Live 08 gives you four generic plays in total, which is just flat-out inexcusable.

The presentation on most EA Sports games is usually a mixed bag, and Live 08 is no exception. The player models look fantastic; this is a huge improvement over last year. But the animations look stiff and surprisingly awkward. When a player runs, it looks like he's hunched over and almost hopping instead of running smoothly. The audio remains a plus with Alberts and Kerr delivering solid play-by-play and the crowd getting involved during crunch time.

Taking the game online is better this year thanks to smoother gameplay, but the new league play is a letdown. 'League play' is a bit of a misnomer, though, because it isn't really a league in the traditional sense. There are no playoffs, no game-built web sites -- there isn't even a built-in scheduler. It does keep stats and records for up to 32 players, but this is a weak attempt at league play at best. Still, multiplayer is the best way to play the game, because it removes the point-guard-driven AI.

Franchise mode remains literally unchanged from last year, and you still can't play in this mode with more than one player, which is a huge problem for dorm- and apartment-based leagues. EA Sports simply has to fix this part of the game. NBA 2K8 allows up to eight players to play in its Association Mode, so why does NBA Live keep this as a solo-only part of the package?

In the end, it's a shame to have to give the game a 'Fry It' rating, because this is without question an improvement over NBA Live 07. But with sports games you simply cannot ignore the competition inside each individual genre, and despite its positive strides, there's still no compelling reason to buy NBA Live 08 when NBA 2K8 is sitting right next to it on the shelf.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by Crispy Gamer.